Slide viewer
A Slide viewer (also called Transparency viewer) is a device for looking at film transparencies or similar photographic images.http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/viewer Description A slide viewer is usually a small handheld device with a slot in which a slide can be inserted to see a magnified illuminated view of it. A slide viewer is an instrument for individual viewing. Some models have an automatic feeder for inserting multiple slides and some have a slot for a strip of film. The slide viewer may rely upon natural light or incorporate a light source. Stereo slide viewer The practice of viewing film-based transparencies in stereo via a viewer dates to at least as early as 1931, when Tru-Vue began to market filmstrips that were fed through a handheld device made from Bakelite. In the 1940s, a modified and miniaturized variation of this technology was introduced as the View-Master. Pairs of stereo views are printed on translucent film which is then mounted around the edge of a cardboard disk, images of each pair being diametrically opposite. A lever is used to move the disk so as to present the next image pair. A series of seven views can thus be seen on each card when it was inserted into the View-Master viewer. These viewers were available in many forms both non-lighted and self-lighted and may still be found today. One type of material presented is children's fairy tale story scenes or brief stories using popular cartoon characters. These use photographs of three dimensional model sets and characters. Another type of material is a series of scenic views associated with some tourist destination, typically sold at gift shops located at the attraction. Another important development in the late 1940s was the introduction of the Stereo Realist camera and viewer system. Using color slide film, this equipment made stereo photography available to the masses and caused a surge in its popularity. The Stereo Realist and competing products can still be found (in estate sales and elsewhere) and utilized today. An advantage offered by transparency viewing is that a wider field of view may be presented since images, being illuminated from the rear, may be placed much closer to the lenses. Note that with simple viewers the images are limited in size as they must be adjacent and so the field of view is determined by the distance between each lens and its corresponding image. Good quality wide angle lenses are quite expensive and they are not found in most stereo viewers. See also *Slide projector *View-Master Gallery File:Agfa Gucki BW 1.JPG|Agfa slide viewer File:Slide magnifier.jpg|Slide magnifier with slides File:Diabetrachter BW 1.JPG|Slide viewer for 6x6 slides File:Kaiser diascop BW 1.JPG|Slide viewer Kaiser diascop mini 2 File:Krokus1.jpg|"KROKUS DIA" slide viewer, product of PZO, Poland File:Diabetrachter.jpg|Kaiser slide viewer File:Диаскоп Ленинград (1979 год).JPG|Slide viewer Leningrad (1979) File:Diapositive.jpg|Slide frames, 1940 (metal or card) to 1985 (plastic) File:FarbDia.jpg|Strip of film File:Stereoviewers.jpg|Some 20th century stereoviewers: View-Masters, Stereoclic Brugiere, Stereoscope Lestrade, Tru-Vue File:Maliskop_mit_Dias.JPG|A Maliscop, a 35 mm stereo slide viewer from Heirich Malinski, Leipzig. File:3D-Dia-Betrachter.jpg|Pentax viewer for 35 mm split-frame stereo slides, portrait-format images File:Stereoscoop Hama.JPG|Hama stereo viewer File:View-Master Model G.jpg|A View-Master Model G, introduced in 1962 File:View-master-scheiben.jpg|View-Master disks from a German Karl May movie References Category:Photography equipment Category:Stereoscopic photography